The Cowboys won the NFC East this season for the first time since 2009

Published at 12:13 PM CST on Jan 27, 2015

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After three consecutive 8-8 finishes, the Dallas Cowboys broke through in 2014 with a 12-4 regular season record, an NFC East Championship and their first playoff victory since 2009. The success, it can be argued, came as a byproduct of the Cowboys establishing a firm identity, something they hadn’t done in recent years.

Now, according to veteran tight end Jason Witten, the team has to build on that identity.

“I think more so now than ever before, I think we have an identity in which how we play,” Witten said, per ESPN Dallas. “And I think that’s something that you feel like you’re building and can build upon. Coach [Jason] Garrett did a great job of kind of enforcing that, kind of laying out that as a blueprint week in, week out since April of what’s going to allow us to have success. Having said that, you start over. No team's the same, and so you have to build that again. I think it was good for us to taste that. It was good for guys to get back there.

“But I don’t think that says next year just roll the ball out and we’re going to do it again. No, you’ve got to do it all over again. I do think we’re good at the right positions that will allow us to have a chance to be successful.”

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